This.. this idea came to me during a tossing and turning night... In my subconsciousness I thought it was a good idea.. and in my subconsciousness I typed it out so I wouldn't forget later. Then I wrote it and as I was writing it this crossed my mind.. maybe this isn't going to be as good as I thought.
But as I'm writing this little apology intro I'm thinking that it might in fact work out. Well, it's done anyway.. Hope you enjoy some father/son-in-law bonding!
And the title.. I had to x)
Summary: Maurice hasn't been seen for weeks. Naturally, Belle is concerned. Gaston offers to see what's bothering the old bean.
Number of years married: 3
Sons: 2
Daughters: 0
~:~ The Desolation of Maurice ~:~
Belle pursed her lips and stared out the window. Gaston came up behind her. "What's the matter?"
"Papa. He's not been visiting. And I've asked around - he hasn't been seen all week." She twitched her lips. "And he stopped coming three weeks ago. I'm worried something's happened."
He grunted. "I'll stop in on my way to the blacksmith."
"Thank you," she gave in a sigh and he kissed her temple.
He knocked on the front door of Belle's old house. No answer. He strained his ear against the door and knocked again. He didn't hear any movement inside. He stepped back and frowned. He knew the older man wouldn't just up and leave without telling Belle.
So he tried the basement. He knocked on the door. Slight relief came to him when he heard some scuffling. But it was clear as he stood there for a minute more that there was no immediate hurry to answer. He tried the handle and the door opened.
"Maurice?" he called. He stepped in. "Maur-" He met a wild-man's blue eyes and took a step back. He carefully leaned against the door until it closed. Then he glanced around the room as its occupant hadn't quite registered the intruder.
It was far from untidy. In fact, untidy wasn't even the right word to describe it.
Screws, gears, curled scraps of metal, shattered colored glass, and broken pieces of wood were strewn across the entire room. If Maurice wasn't in the process of knocking over his own shelves and handiwork, Gaston would have thought someone had robbed him.
The hunter picked his way through the wreckage. "Maurice-" he tried with a stiff sigh. He managed out of the way when said wild-man flung a music box at his head. He cringed as the box smashed against the floor - all of the other's hard work flying in odd directions.
He looked up in time to see the older man dart for rolls of parchment by his easel. He knew those sheets were laid out with plans of inventions and he knew the man was having a fit he would later regret.
He crossed the room in a hurry and caught the man's wrist.
Maurice sharply turned his head and frowned at him.
"Maurice," Gaston tried forcefully. "Maurice, it's me. Gaston."
He shrugged off the hunter and pushed away from his easel. He muttered incoherently as he kept looking around the room as if looking for more damage he could cause.
Gaston watched him for a moment longer. "What happened?"
"Nothing."
He followed his father-in-law as the older man stopped at the table. "Do not give me 'nothing'. You haven't been seen for weeks, Maurice. Belle's getting worried. And frankly now that I am looking at you, I am quite worried too."
Maurice scoffed. "You? Worried about me? I can scarcely believe it."
Gaston remarkably had patience for this. It seemed to run in the family. Belle was the same way. In fact while having Gilbert, she so (as if he were not in the room, right beside her no less) admitted he still wasn't the man she envisioned she'd marry. That he was too horrid and too burly. That there were times when she truly doubted their marriage was real as he was sooo narcissistic. That on some days she felt frightened to leave him alone with Nathaniel-
Then Gilbert had come into the world and she had apologized for the awful things she had said. But he brushed it off - said it didn't matter, that she was merely uncomfortable with the event, that he knew she didn't mean it, that there would never be the need to apologize.
And because on some level, it all was true in her eyes.
He looked at Maurice. "Well believe it, old bean." He looked down at the tabletop and spotted angrily torn open letters. He picked one up. "What's happened?"
He plucked the papers from the hunter. "None of your business," he said shortly. Then he scrutinized the man. "Don't you have anywhere else to be?"
Gaston picked up another letter in retort. "Not presently. I did tell you Belle was worried about you."
"And you hardly expect me to believe that you do as my daughter says?" He tried to reach for the letter but Gaston held it higher. "Give it to me. It's not for your eyes!"
But Gaston kept scanning the page.
"For goodness sake, you can't even read!"
He sent Maurice a sharp look. "I was a captain in the army. I can read."
The older man scoffed, "Hogwash."
He sighed. There were times Gaston wondered why he married into this family...
He turned the letter over and kept reading. "There's a man in town who-" He raised the letter again as a hand tried to swipe it. "-is also repairing clocks and making music boxes. Some serious competition." He kept reading then he frowned. "Maurice, these are threatening messages. Why haven't you turned them into the constable?"
"Because they're from a foolish kid is all," he tried. "Some little scrawny chap looking to cause trouble. Empty words. Nothing to them."
Gaston gave an unconvinced chuckle as he reread a few lines. "This doesn't sound like nothing to me."
"I have caused enough trouble in town over the years," he said. "I can't afford to have 'Crazy Old Maurice' on my back again. I'll be alright."
"Maurice-"
"You can tell Belle I'm perfectly fine. Just a little cold was all it was."
Gaston looked at him. "You know I can't do that," he said. "I can't lie to her. And not only that, she will see right through it if I do."
The older man sat heavily in his chair and finally acknowledged the desolate room. "I've went and ruined it all, haven't I?" He looked at Gaston then at the floor. He chuckled in pity. "I just got so upset that my work would never be enough. That all my inventions were for nothing. I can't take a little competition, Gaston." He took back the letter. "But I've seen his work... He is quite better than I."
The hunter watched his tired face.
"I dare say I'll be put out of business soon. People will realize that what I have to offer is not nearly as great as he."
Gaston thought of his two cents. "Well, seeing how it's all still here and not halfway down the road, I say you haven't ruined much. Yes, anything that is broken can be fixed- well, mostly," he added.
Maurice gave him an odd look. "I dare say, are you the same son-in-law who so self-centered-ly married my daughter only to gaze longingly at his own reflection shortly after the ceremony?"
"Shocking, isn't it?" Gaston grunted. He heaved up an overturned table. "Come on, now. You don't expect me to do all this work, do you?" he grinned.
"How can you be so sure I can fix all of these?" Maurice asked three hours later when everything was partially put back together and pieces that were far from rescuing were thrown away.
Gaston sat at the end of the table - in a chair of course... but with his boots on the table. "Because you passed on the same determination to your daughter and I've seen her at her best-"
"I am far from determined," he chuckled. "I didn't have the determination in stopping her from marrying you." Then his chuckle ceased as he remembered who he was talking to. He chanced a look at the hunter.
But his face was calm and perhaps even a little amused. "I take no offense, don't worry."
"May I ask why?" he hesitated.
Gaston laughed lightly and shrugged. "I think I'm still in that haze when caring for a two-month-old. Little sleep. Late nights. Early mornings. It would take too much of me to argue with you."
"Ah yes," Maurice realized. "Belle tells me you help out a great deal. More than any man I've heard of in town."
"Well, I would hate her to think she really did marry a conceited jerk who only thinks of himself and his truly perfect jawline that did look exceptionally handsome on his wedding night," he joked as he so fondly rubbed his jaw. "I want to be there for my sons, through it all, no matter what."
"No matter what," Maurice repeated. Then he sat forward. "I'm on your side, Gaston. I know sometimes I forget you married my Belle and I still see you as the same arrogant hunter who so forwardly chased her around town." He chuckled to himself as he remembered her wild stories about the man and his latest venture in courting her. "Of course you've changed a bit - a bit," he emphasized. "And I am.. I dare say I am.. well, we're not quite all the way to proud but-"
"It is I who should be so humbly thanking you."
Maurice grew flustered. "Whatever for?"
"For raising Belle and now that you mentioned it, lacking the determination to stop her from marrying me," he grinned.
The older man grumbled good-naturedly.
The basement door suddenly opened and Belle stopped short at the untidy room. She looked at her father then her husband. "Margaret is watching the boys. Now, what... what happened?"
Maurice took a far too long pause so Gaston answered for him. "Slight break-in. Nothing was taken, thankfully. I'm sorry I've been out for so long. I was helping him put everything back together."
"Oh Papa!" she gasped. "Are you sure everything's all right?"
He nodded then glanced at Gaston from the corner of his eye. "Anything that's broken can be fixed."
She still looked unsure. But time was ticking away - she had told Margaret she'd be back in four minutes. "I have to get back, but I'll be by later tonight. Gaston, I just remembered I need some blue yarn."
Gaston nodded and Maurice hummed, "I'll be looking forward to it, my dear."
She gave a small smile and closed the door behind her. The hunter put his boots back on the table and looked at his father-in-law.
"I thought-" He scrutinized the man. "I thought you said you couldn't lie to her?"
He chuckled. "Elaborate lies that take quite a lot of convincing, no I can't. Short lies, yeah. Those are much easier."
Maurice continued his glare. "A simple robbery is not 'much easier'."
"You want her to know the truth?"
The older man didn't have to think of an answer. He didn't want her to worry about him. Her never did. She had her own life and that was all she should be focused on. "No, not really."
"Robbery," Gaston repeated.
"Robbery," Maurice copied.
They continued to sit in silence until Maurice glanced at the clock. Then he looked at Gaston. "So... yarn?"
"What- oh yes, yarn! Blue yarn. She'd kill me if I got red yarn. 'Gaston, there are more colors than just red and brown'," he mused lightly. He bid Maurice good day and that he'd also be back that night.
He watched the basement door close behind the man he so hoped made his daughter as happy as he and her mother had been.
